Drake loses $565,000 after betting on Tyson Fury to beat Oleksandr Usyk as rapper's gambling 'curse' strikes again

Drake suffered another big-money gambling loss on Saturday night after the rapper bet $565,000 on Tyson Fury to beat Oleksandr Usyk.

The Ukrainian beat Fury by split decision in Saudi Arabia to become the first undisputed heavyweight boxing champion in 24 years.

Usyk added Fury's WBC title to his own WBA, IBF and WBO belts with a spectacular late rally highlighted by a ninth-round knockdown in a back-and-forth bout between two previously unbeaten heavyweight champs.

But it was bad news for Drake, who earlier on Saturday took to Instagram to show he had gambled $565,000 on Fury to prevail. If Fury had won, Drake would have collected just over $1million.

Fans on social media regularly joke that Drake is 'cursed' having previously lost a six-figure sum after Anthony Joshua's knockout win over Francis Ngannou, and another $700,000 after Dricus Du Plessis beat Sean Strickland at UFC 297.

Drake suffered another big-money gambling loss after betting $565,000 on Tyson Fury to win

Oleksandr Usyk beat Fury by split decision to become undisputed heavyweight champion

The combat sport enthusiast had placed $565,000 (£462,396) on 'The Gypsy King' to win

He also lost $550,000 when Israel Adesanya suffered a shock defeat against Strickland in the octagon and previously bet $890,000 on Logan Paul to beat Dillon Danis in the boxing ring. 

Many thought the curse had been broken when Drake bet $1m on Argentina to win the 2022 World Cup final against France.

Although Lionel Messi and Co did prevail in Qatar they won on penalties, which meant Drake's bet for them to win inside 90 minutes lost. 

Drake has found success gambling on the Super Bowl though and picked up wins in basketball, baseball and hockey. 

But his luck was out on Saturday night as two judges favored Usyk, 115-112 and 114-113, while the third gave it to Fury, 114-113.

Fury and Usyk are expected to enter the ring around 11pm UK time / 1am in Saudi Arabia

Usyk started quickly, but then had to survive while the confident, charismatic Fury dominated the middle rounds. 

Usyk surged in the final rounds, just as the Ukrainian Olympic gold medalist has done so many times in his career, taking control with a dominant eighth and nearly stopping Fury in the ninth.

Usyk hurt Fury with a left hand and eventually sent him sprawling into a corner in the final seconds of the round, getting credit for a knockdown right before Fury was saved by the bell. 

Fury struggled to mount a consistent attack after nearly getting stopped, and the knockdown turned out to be the decisive factor in the decision.

'Thank you so much to my team,' Usyk said while fighting back tears in the ring. 'It´s a big opportunity for me, for my family, for my country. Slava Ukraini!'